{"id":843713,"date":"2025-10-14T16:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T15:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?p=843713"},"modified":"2025-10-28T09:20:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T09:20:47","slug":"the-biggest-plotting-mistake-writers-make-and-how-to-avoid-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/the-biggest-plotting-mistake-writers-make-and-how-to-avoid-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The biggest plotting mistake writers make\u2026 and how to avoid it\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do I have your attention? Did that click-baity title work?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope so, because (I flatter myself) the tips I\u2019m about to share are really, genuinely<\/em> important if you want to write a book that resonates with the people who pick it up.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best ever advice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The advice that changed my approach to writing \u2013 and which I came across at random on the internet \u2013 is this:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A story isn\u2019t about what happens; it\u2019s about how what happens <\/strong>changes the people<\/em><\/strong> in the story<\/strong>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apologies to all of you who\u2019ve got thirty-point plot plans full of dragon battles or gruesome serial killings prepared \u2013 but those twisty, turny events you\u2019ve dreamt up aren\u2019t as important as you think they are. At least, they won\u2019t be if you don\u2019t make sure they mean<\/em> something.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Character arcs \u2013 emotional journeys \u2013 are the beating heart of every story: the pulse that keeps readers turning the page. If you don\u2019t tie some sort of character development to every dramatic scene you craft, what you\u2019ll be left with is a sequence of \u2018and then\u2019 events that no-one really cares about.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, I\u2019m going to offer my top tips for creating characters that will inspire readers to invest in them. I\u2019ll also outline ways you can tie their progress to the external goings-on in your fictional world, ensuring that the big set-pieces you\u2019ve imagined don\u2019t fall flat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characters don’t have to be likeable… but we need to understand them<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I write commercial women\u2019s fiction: romantic comedies where readers expect to find a protagonist they can root for. This doesn\u2019t mean I have to write fault-free characters, though \u2013 and if you\u2019re working in another genre, your scope for crafting someone dark and damaged is even greater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However sympathetic (or not) you intend your main character to be, there must be credible reasons why they are the way they are. In other words: what\u2019s their backstory?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to know what they got for their fifth birthday or their favourite flavour of pizza, but you do<\/em> need to know how they got to where they are at the opening of your novel \u2013 both literally and metaphorically.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about Mick Herron\u2019s Jackson Lamb: a deeply unpleasant, uncaring alcoholic, washed up on the scrapheap that is Slough House. Not the deadbeat he at first appears, he remains a skilled agent whose instincts are sharp under pressure \u2013 but he\u2019s drowning in cynicism (as well as Scotch) thanks to the deep emotional damage wrought by years of MI5 double-dealing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Characters need to have problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

And lots of them! If everything is tickety-boo at the start of your story, there\u2019s nowhere for your protagonist to go.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need your characters to be miserable, but you might want to show them discontented, frustrated, stuck in a situation that\u2019s stifling them or in denial about the past. Whatever is troubling them, it should be connected to their backstory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your book\u2019s inciting incident or catalyst is your first opportunity to link your plot (the \u2018external conflict\u2019 of your story) \u2013 to your character\u2019s issues (the \u2018inner conflict\u2019). Make sure that whatever happens here deepens the challenge they\u2019re already facing. In Jane Austen\u2019s Persuasion<\/em>, the temporary loss of her family home is bad enough for Anne Elliot \u2013 but it also sees her thrown back into the orbit of her lost love, Captain Wentworth.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider wants vs. needs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

All of this said\u2026 your characters don\u2019t need to recognise the pickles they\u2019re in to begin with. In fact, it\u2019s best if what they want \u2013 the thing they\u2019re striving for as your book opens \u2013 has nothing to do with what they actually need<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, your protagonist may be working towards a promotion, or to earn their family\u2019s respect. Perhaps they\u2019re desperate to win back an ex-partner or plotting revenge on an enemy. External goals like these, even if they\u2019re achieved, shouldn\u2019t<\/em> fix the inner conflict characters are ignoring: the trauma rooted in childhood or the pain of their first love deserting them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The job of your plot is to guide your character into confronting what\u2019s really going on below the surface. That\u2019s a process of realisation that should take in a variety of highs and lows along the way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marry external events to internal reactions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve outlined the main events in your book, you\u2019ve probably got a list of key scenes you want to include. These will become true story beats when they\u2019re clearly tied to their effect on your characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do the events of your novel trouble or challenge your protagonist? How does each incident affect them specifically<\/em>? Why is something worse for them than it would be for an average person? Personalise everything to raise the stakes for readers and make every plot point matter more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the difference between a man being involved in a train crash, and him being involved while trying to get home to his dying wife so he can say goodbye to her. A powerful combination of event + emotion is always what you\u2019re aiming for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Want to read the rest of this article? Log in<\/a> or join our free community – you’ll get the rest of our top tips, plus a truck-load of other resources. Whoever said you don’t get anything in this life for free?<\/h4>\n\n\n\r\n